UPDATE: Who's watching Southwest prices in anticipation of 3/18 release? UPDATE: TIX RELEASED 03/15.

[Disneyliscious]

I've been watching the late September prices to try and have an idea where we'll be when they release for 10/02 and forward. They were steady for a while and dropped to $93 one way and then today are up to $126 one way. Still better than last year where we opened at $196 one way and then jumped to $336 one way within 3 hours of release (and didn't go back down until about 2 weeks before our dates).

We flying out October 5th so hoping prices stay low! Site seems to be down right now though.

 

[katallo]

Prior to last year I was always ready to book at opening. However, for our 2 trips last year prices were much lower 3 to 4 months out.

 

[scheddj]

I've been watching the late September prices to try and have an idea where we'll be when they release for 10/02 and forward. They were steady for a while and dropped to $93 one way and then today are up to $126 one way. Still better than last year where we opened at $196 one way and then jumped to $336 one way within 3 hours of release (and didn't go back down until about 2 weeks before our dates).

We flying out October 5th so hoping prices stay low! Site seems to be down right now though.

What time do they release?

 

[jimmytammy]

Me, me, me!!

 

[georgina]

I'm planning to be online Thursday to book October flights, but I am not checking Sept fares because it doesn't matter to me. I will be booking one way with points and another with credit card. If I book and the price drops, I know I have a flight next Feb that I can use any credit on.

 

[phins_jazy]

I will be there watching too. Looking for late Oct fares.

 

[Rach3975]

I'm waiting for the fares to open but haven't been watching current flight prices. I am going to spend some time in the next couple of days searching for fares on other airlines so I know whether to jump on the SW flights when I see the fares. We've never booked flights anywhere early enough to have to stalk ticket releases like this. Our flight to MCO will open 3/14, but we won't be able to book our return trip until the next release. It feels strange not to book them all at once!

 

[kristenrice]

We've been watching for months!

We are flying down 10/17ish -10/26. Our DVC stay starts on 10/18 but since we are planning to fly out of GRR, we typically get shafted by SWA. There are no longer any non-stops and flights rarely arrive much before 3pm, unless we want to pay an arm and a leg. To add insult to injury, there are layovers of 3 hours or 2 stops involved so a lot of the itineraries are 5+ hours. There are 8 of us flying and we are hoping to get all of the flights with points since we have about 190K between the 8 of us. Right now, 5 people in the group are hoping to leave on the morning of the 17th, as early as possible. Me and my kids have to leave after school so we cannot leave on a flight that departs before 5pm. Fortunately, based on September's schedule, there are 2 flights that depart after 5, but only one of them would fit in our budget.

We are all returning on Saturday the 26th and we are going to book the latest, cheapest flight possible. When we look at September, there are 3 flights that all land in GRR at 10pm after connecting in MDW. They depart at various times from MCO at various prices with differing layovers. While we would obviously prefer the latest departure (5pm), it is actually the most expensive with only a 1-hr layover. We would actually opt for the middle one (a 4pm departure) with a 2-hr layover because it is much cheaper and it still arrives home at the same time. We are just hoping for something that we can afford that departs after 3pm because we are hoping to do a getaway day breakfast at Olivia's and we are staying at BWV. We don't want to get up too early, we don't want to feel rushed, and we want to leave plenty of time for transportation. We plan to use Uber so no worry about buses, but we still don't want to have a 10-11am DME pick-up time.

 

[RaySharpton]

I have never flown with Southwest Airlines, but I was curious and I tried to search their website to see how often they extend their dates to make reservations. I was looking for December 2019. Do they only show the next six months of dates?

 

[ktate82]

Add us to the list for waiting. We need flights down on 10/2 and back on 10/12 or 10/13 depending on which is cheaper.

 

[han22735]

I have never flown with Southwest Airlines, but I was curious and I tried to search their website to see how often they extend their dates to make reservations. I was looking for December 2019. Do they only show the next six months of dates?

There's no set "6 months" They periodically release dates further out. If on their site you click on "flight schedule" near the bottom it will tell you the furthest date out to book and when the next window opens.

 

[RaySharpton]

There's no set "6 months" They periodically release dates further out. If on their site you click on "flight schedule" near the bottom it will tell you the furthest date out to book and when the next window opens.

Hi, han22735. I must have missed looking at that. Thank you.

We are currently accepting air reservations through October 1, 2019. On March 14, 2019, we will open our schedule for sale through November 2, 2019. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently.

 

[mamamelody2]

We've been watching for months!

We are flying down 10/17ish -10/26. Our DVC stay starts on 10/18 but since we are planning to fly out of GRR, we typically get shafted by SWA. There are no longer any non-stops and flights rarely arrive much before 3pm, unless we want to pay an arm and a leg. To add insult to injury, there are layovers of 3 hours or 2 stops involved so a lot of the itineraries are 5+ hours. There are 8 of us flying and we are hoping to get all of the flights with points since we have about 190K between the 8 of us. Right now, 5 people in the group are hoping to leave on the morning of the 17th, as early as possible. Me and my kids have to leave after school so we cannot leave on a flight that departs before 5pm. Fortunately, based on September's schedule, there are 2 flights that depart after 5, but only one of them would fit in our budget.

We are all returning on Saturday the 26th and we are going to book the latest, cheapest flight possible. When we look at September, there are 3 flights that all land in GRR at 10pm after connecting in MDW. They depart at various times from MCO at various prices with differing layovers. While we would obviously prefer the latest departure (5pm), it is actually the most expensive with only a 1-hr layover. We would actually opt for the middle one (a 4pm departure) with a 2-hr layover because it is much cheaper and it still arrives home at the same time. We are just hoping for something that we can afford that departs after 3pm because we are hoping to do a getaway day breakfast at Olivia's and we are staying at BWV. We don't want to get up too early, we don't want to feel rushed, and we want to leave plenty of time for transportation. We plan to use Uber so no worry about buses, but we still don't want to have a 10-11am DME pick-up time.

We also fly from GRR and are flying SWA on points. Our dates are 8/29 to 9/7. We booked the flight the day they were released. When the flights became available at about 7 AM, the outbound flight we wanted (6:55-11:55 AM) was over $300. No thanks. I decided to wait to book that leg, and just booked our return flight which was 5:05-10 PM at $136. Just for giggles, I checked back about 10 AM, and the outbound flight was at $155. I booked it. I have checked many many times since then, and I have not seen lower prices for those flights. Could still happen, but I am happy with the price we paid, so ANYWAY, don't freak out if the prices aren't good to start. They may get better.

 

[kristenrice]

We also fly from GRR and are flying SWA on points. Our dates are 8/29 to 9/7. We booked the flight the day they were released. When the flights became available at about 7 AM, the outbound flight we wanted (6:55-11:55 AM) was over $300. No thanks. I decided to wait to book that leg, and just booked our return flight which was 5:05-10 PM at $136. Just for giggles, I checked back about 10 AM, and the outbound flight was at $155. I booked it. I have checked many many times since then, and I have not seen lower prices for those flights. Could still happen, but I am happy with the price we paid, so ANYWAY, don't freak out if the prices aren't good to start. They may get better.

Yup, same thing happened to me last year. My flights released in the morning for $300-$350 each way, but by the afternoon, they were down to $150-$160.

 

[Rach3975]

Good advice about checking back even later on release day! DH and I are doing a short trip, flying out on Saturday morning and back on Tuesday. Our oldest is 15, and this will be our first real trip (purely for fun, not a special needs conference about DS's genetic disorder or one night in a hotel close to home) without the kids since he was born. Looking at what SW has available now, for as close as we can get to our trip dates before the release, the problem is that the prices are great but the times stink. I think we're going to have to decide if we're willing to pay double for the times we really want on a different airline. The trip to MCO we can make work even if the time isn't ideal, but for the trip home it's the difference between being able to spend the morning at a park or having to fly home too early. I'm crossing my fingers the new release has a better time available, but we'll see. For a regular trip with the kids we'd probably be practical and take the cheap flight, but this time we may splurge.

 

[georgina]

I have never flown with Southwest Airlines, but I was curious and I tried to search their website to see how often they extend their dates to make reservations. I was looking for December 2019. Do they only show the next six months of dates?

A nice thing about the shorter time frame is that the flights rarely change once they are released. We have flights in June on both American and United and I have gotten emails about changes (time changes, aircraft changes) from both of them since we booked.

 

[RaySharpton]

Thank you, georgina.

A nice thing about the shorter time frame is that the flights rarely change once they are released. We have flights in June on both American and United and I have gotten emails about changes (time changes, aircraft changes) from both of them since we booked.

 

[AlohaNow]

Yes, have been anxiously awaiting! We are locked in to SW for our October trip due to points and a CP that I should have in hand by the end of this week. Our plan is to fly into MCO to attend MNSSHP then fly out of FLL after our cruise. I too checked the September times and prices to get an idea, but I guess none of that will really matter! Recently there has only been one N/S flight from FLL to Denver, so I’m hoping that it will still exist and that we can pick it up. PBI is a possibility as well, but only if they add a N/S, which there hasn’t been in quite some time. But we’ll take whatever we can get, as we will be getting four R/T for free! All will be revealed soon….

 

[AlohaNow]

Ack! Home for a blizzard day, wishing I could do all my travel plans today. We continue to wait....

 

[georgina]

I've been watching the late September prices to try and have an idea where we'll be when they release for 10/02 and forward. They were steady for a while and dropped to $93 one way and then today are up to $126 one way. Still better than last year where we opened at $196 one way and then jumped to $336 one way within 3 hours of release (and didn't go back down until about 2 weeks before our dates).

We flying out October 5th so hoping prices stay low! Site seems to be down right now though.

Website now says Monday the 18th is the release date (possibly Max 8 related). If you update your title people may notice the change! Didn't want to start a new thread.